But a shift has occurred since I stepped up to take Prim’s place, and know it seems I have become someone precious. At first, then another, then almost every member of the crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally used at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love.
-Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games.